Giants' first baseman Brandon Belt hopes to play again this season

San Francisco Giants' Brandon Belt (9) hits a single against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. Every player wore #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

CHICAGO — Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday that he expects Brandon Belt to play again this season. During an appearance on 95.7 The Game, the first baseman said the same.

"I'm definitely planning on playing this season," Belt said while on "The Wheelhouse." I'm definitely planning on being there when we go to the playoffs."

Belt has missed 22 games because of a concussion he suffered when hit by a teammate's throw last month. He told 95.7 The Game that his main problem right now is keeping his eyes focused. Belt came out of a game in Milwaukee earlier this month because he was dizzy and his vision was blurry. Giants doctors believed there was something wrong with his vestibular system, a diagnosis confirmed Monday by concussion specialist Dr. Mickey Collins.

The Giants have been concerned because Belt suffered a serious concussion while playing for the University of Texas in 2009. He was hit in the head by a pitch and was knocked out, but he was cleared to play the next day and the final three weeks of that season. Much more is known about concussions five years later, and the Giants will be cautious with Belt.

Belt said on 95.7 that Dr. Collins is "100 percent sure" Belt will recover from this concussion.

"We're just not exactly sure when that's going to be because these things are unpredictable," he said.

Belt will do rehab work to try and improve his vision and will go back to Pittsburgh in three weeks to see if he can get cleared by Dr. Collins. The Giants already are thinking about ways that they can get Belt some live action at their facility in Scottsdale, assuming he is cleared to resume baseball work sometime next month.

Asked if he expects to have Belt back in late September, Bochy nodded.

"I do," he said. "But part of that is I'm hoping, and that's for his sake, too."